COWLES FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH IN
ECONOMICS Box 208281
COWLES FOUNDATION DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 1766 The Value of Luminosity Data as a Proxy for Economic Statistics Xi Chen and William Nordhaus August 2010 One of the pervasive issues in social and environmental research has
been to improve the quality of socioeconomic data in developing countries. Because of the
shortcoming of standard data sources, the present study examines luminosity (measures of
nighttime lights) as a proxy for standard measures of output. The paper compares output
and luminosity at the country levels and at the 1° x 1° grid-cell levels for the period
1992-2008. The results are that luminosity has very little value added for countries with
high-quality statistical systems. However, it may be useful for countries with the lowest
statistical grades, particularly for war-torn countries with no recent population or
economic censuses. The results also indicate that luminosity has more value added for
economic density estimates than for time-series growth rates. |
